Online education has become a prime medium for higher education in the last 20 years. On-campus students often must settle for programs offered by institutions local to them. This is not the case for online students, who have a wider variety of degree and course options, as they can enroll in any institution in the country that offers online education. Moreover, those enrolled in an online PhD program have educational freedom. Students are free to study and complete assignments at times and in places that the best suit their personal schedule.

South Carolina’s distance education options are vast and comprehensive thanks to various state initiatives. The state participates in the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and its Academic Common Market/Electronic Campus Program (ACM/EC). Through this program, South Carolina residents have access to uncommon online courses at in-state tuition rates at any of the other 15 participating states’ higher education institutions. Moreover, the University of South Carolina’s Distributed Learning program makes online graduate programs, including four online PhD degrees, accessible to students all over the state.

Your Ph.D. In South Carolina

Health care options in South Carolina are quite extensive, as is evidenced by the state’s largest employers, namely Palmetto Health Baptist, Greenville Memorial Hospital, and Palmetto Health Richland. Palmetto Health Baptist is located in Columbia, and holds more than 3,000 employees and medical staff members. Greenville Memorial Hospital is situated in Greenville and provides health care services through its various centers, such as its children’s hospital and trauma center. Palmetto Health Richland is a health care system located in Columbia that employs nearly 8,500 South Carolinians. Through the University of South Carolina’s online doctoral degree programs in health administration, students can prepare themselves to take on leadership positions at these and many other South Carolinian health care institutions.

South Carolina also has a great need for engineers given that one of its main industries is manufacturing. Some of the major goods manufactured in South Carolina are textiles, automobiles, clothing, and lumber. Given this, the University of South Carolina’s online PhD programs in engineering with specializations in electrical, mechanical, and nuclear engineering are highly useful. For instance, one might use their Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering to secure an upper-level position at an automobile manufacturing company.